Multifunctional, auditorium-style measures in New York’s co-operating space Neuehouse, made by Rockwell Group, are employed for meetings, lectures and concerts photo Eric Laignel

Staircases are overdetermined factors. A hugely functional element in the internal circulation of a developing, they are also laden with cultural and psychological symbolism. We may reside in the age of the lift and escalator, but this hasn’t stopped architects employing the staircase as a implies of adding value to spaces, be it via their aesthetic or engineering virtuosity. It is not the location that counts but the receiving there. (by Dominic Lutyens)